Damaged
by hardrocker21
Summary: Rita's younger brother is finally coming home and the Loud kids are excited to see him. Excitement however turns to concern as their Uncle Reese has brought with him some bad memories that haunt him relentlessly. Now Rita and the rest of the family must help uncover the source of the memories and try to help him heal.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is my first Loud House fanfic and I'm kind of nervous about posting it. VERY nervous to be honest. Even though it'll focus a lot on an OC, I will make sure that the other characters are heavily focused on as well as they have important roles to play in the story as well. I've seen many stories focusing on serious matters so I kind of want to venture where few people have and that's into someone's fragile mind who now lives in a crazy house hold.**

 **I didn't really get into the show until recently so I'm a little late to the party, but after watching it I can find myself connecting to it for various reasons. To date I have seen all of season 2 so far and most of the first. So if I miss key details, please let me know and I'll try to rectify it as best I can. I can talk more about why I like the show at a later time. But I've talked enough for now and really want to get to the story.**

 **I always liked toying with the idea that the kids have relatives outside of them, their parents, and Pop Pop and I really wanted to create that and that's why I made this. So let's get started shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: The Loud House is owned by Nickelodeon.**

* * *

It was a typical day in the town of Royal Woods, Michigan. Sure it was a rainy day out today, but for the most part it was still pretty normal. Except that in one neighborhood something peculiar was going on. One house was unusually quiet, which was odd as this particular house was usually a source of a lot of noise. Many of the neighbors reffered to as the "Loud House" as the household was usually very noisy and the family that owned it was also named Loud.

The family itself consisted of the parents and all eleven of their kids, the kids consisting of ten daughters and one son. Many people would call the parents nuts for having so many kids, but the family itself took these words with a grain of salt. They loved all of their kids equally and didn't care what anyone else said. Sure the kids could be a hassle and sometimes a bit destructive, but that's something that very well could have happened regardless of how many kids they had. With such a big family, a lot of noise was to be expected. Especially when the kids had some very noisy hobbies.

On most days one would see the third eldest child, fifteen year old Luna, in the garage blasting away on her guitar at full volume and shaking all of the houses in the neighborhood. You could also see one of the younger girls, six year old Lana, in the middle of one of her messy hobbies in the back or front yard. Or even thirteen year old Lynn in the middle of one her sports sessions that she obsessed with regularly. So it's rare to hear the house so quiet and still, especially on a Saturday.

The truth of the matter is that every one of the Loud kids were up and about and busy. Unlike most days however, they were busy cleaning up the house and even straightening things up. Lori, the eldest sister, was cleaning all of the windows. The second oldest, Leni had been helping her originally. That is until she looked in the bathroom mirror and thought that she was trapped inside. Now she was busy trying to use a vacuum to try to pull herself out. Lori was tempted to make her stop, but instead decided to leave her be as it kept her out of the way of her own task.

The other members of the family were busy with random activities which included Luna scrubbing the walls, six year old Lana unclogging the toilet, their father Lynn Sr. was busy getting the kitchen clean, and the many other kids were doing the tasks that had each been assigned.

The one son of the family, eleven year old Lincoln, walks back into the house after having taken out the trash and slipped out off his rain gear and set them on the ground. This earned him a scolding from his father.

"LINCOLN LOUD! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT SETTING WET RAIN COATS ON THE FLOOR?!" his father hollered from the kitchen.

This made Lincoln jump and he quickly picked them up and swaddled them into a ball.

"Sorry dad! I'll take care of them right now," he called back and rushed them up the stairs to dry in the bathroom.

After hanging his raincoat over the tub, he quickly avoided his sister Lynn who was sweeping the hall and whacking large clumps of dust bunnies like hockey pucks into a trash can she had placed at the end of the hall. This was followed quickly by gothic eight year old Lucy, bursting out of the vents as she had been dusting them. And fourteen year old Luan who was carrying bed sheets to make the beds in the house even though the bedrooms weren't top priority, but it kept her occupied and out of everyone else's hair with her usual puns. The only siblings absent were six year old Lana, four year old Lisa, and one year old Lily as they had left with their mother earlier.

Lincoln rushed for his room and quickly concealed himself within. He dusted his hands off before finally turning his attention to the audience.

"Oh hey there. Sorry to keep everyone waiting. As you can see me, dad, and my sisters are pretty busy today with cleaning the house. As I'm sure you know that this is not very common for us, even when our parents tell us to do it. But you see there's actually a big reason for it," Lincoln said as he addressed the audience.

He reached underneath his bed to pull out a photo album he had stored under there and opened it up for all to see. Inside were various pictures of him, the girls, and their parents. He flipped through the pages to show other members of the family as well.

"You see with my parents and sisters and me, we're already a large enough family."

He then flipped to some photos of other family members. Including Pop Pop, a few aunts, and maybe a few cousins too.

"But outside of them we still have other relatives like Pop Pop, Aunt Ruth, and-"

He trailed off as he landed on a most unflattering photo of an older lady. He practically gagged as he looked at it, shut his eyes, and looked away.

"Ugh... Aunt Shirley."

He quickly turned the page to get the horrid image out of his mind and landed on something nicer. The image was of his parents, all the Loud kids minus Lily as their mother was still pregnant with her, and a young man with short blonde hair kneeling in the middle of the group. He was dressed in a green shirt with green jacket along with metal tags hanging around his neck. The smile on all of their faces was enough to make Lincoln pause for a moment and absorb the feeling of the moment.

"And of course our Uncle Reese."

He then looked through other pictures, some of which involved a younger Reese as was engaged in other activities with the girls. Like head banging to some of Luna's jam sessions, playing ball with Lynn, even having a little tea party with Lola. Lincoln's favorite of course was the two of them posing in front an arcade after getting the high score on it. A high score that still stood to this day.

"Our Uncle Reese is the one family member who tries to make time for all of us. He doesn't share all of our interests, but will take part in them regardless just so he can spend time with us and make sure he has a good visit with us. It's one of the few times we can all get a fair amount of attention from family so it's kind of a big deal for us."

He then flipped to some pictures of his mother when she was much younger, including one when she was a teenager and holding a baby Reese in her arms. The age gap between sister and brother was pretty obvious. Lincoln knew his mother was a young mother, but to think that she had a brother who was less than a decade older than Lori was pretty crazy to him. Then again the age gap between Lori and Lily was pretty close to the age gap between his mother and Reese so he figured it would be best to accept it.

"Uncle Reese works as a driver in the Army and is constantly away from here and in another country. But once a year he does get to spend a week with us and it usually results in him being busy with each of us the entire time he's here so we try to plan our activities with him ahead of time. Right now Lori is planning to introduce him to Bobby and Lynn plans to play ball with him which she does every time with him. Knowing her though she'll want a parkour session with him as well."

He closed the photo album and set it back on the ground followed by sitting on his bed.

"So Uncle Reese is coming to visit and he arrives today. Mom wanted the house to be cleaned up before his arrival and she left to pick him up a while ago with Lola, Lisa, and Lily. Mom figured it'd keep them out of the way while we cleaned since Lola doesn't like to get dirty and Lisa doesn't really clean anything if she can help it. Plus it gives Reese a chance to meet Lily, something that he's been wanting to do since before she was born."

It was here that Lynn Sr.'s voice called from downstairs, "KIDS! YOUR MOTHER JUST CALLED! UNCLE REESE'S PLANE JUST ARRIVED! THEY'LL BE HERE IN AN HOUR!"

From the hall, Lincoln could hear the sounds of his sister's cheering at the news.

Lincoln laughed and said, "Well it looks like I need to get back to work. Need to make things perfect before they get here."

With that Lincoln left the room to help everyone else.

* * *

In the meantime in the city, a young man descended down an escalator, taking him down towards the parking garage where his sister promised to pick him. He was dressed in the same kind of attire as he normally wears consisting of his green shirt, jacket, and Army cap with an olive duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He took a breath and waited in anticipation, nervous about how the family would react to his big news. The only people who knew so far was his sis and her husband and she promised to not tell the family and to let him tell them instead. So here he was about to head home... for the final time.

He reached the bottom and stepped away from the escalators. The first thing that happened is that he heard a voice call out his name.

"Reese! We're over here," came the woman's voice.

The man, Reese, turned his head in the voice's direction and saw what he was looking for. He spotted his big sis, Rita, waving him over with three of her youngest daughters standing with her. He smiled and began making his way over to them. As he approached, one of the girls ran up and he scooped her off the ground.

"Uncle Reese you made it. We missed you," the child said gleefully.

Reese laughed as she hugged him and said, "Nice to see you Lola. I missed you too."

He kissed her on the cheek and approached his sister who was holding her youngest and wrapped his one free arm around her and she wrapped her one free arm around him as well.

"Nice to see you too sis," he said with his smile still plastered on his face.

Rita chuckled and shed a couple of tears as hugged him as tight as she could without either of the girls in their arms being crushed.

She pulled back and said, "Good to see you buddy. Looks like someone was excited to see you."

Reese laughed and kneeled down to set Lola back on the ground who took her spot beside her mother. He spotted Lisa standing on the other side of Rita with the usual lack of emotion on her face.

Reese ruffled her hair really quickly and said, "Well look at you Lisa. Last time I saw you, you were just half as tall as you are now. You're shooting up like a weed."

With a sigh, Lisa adjusted her glasses and said, "I find that highly unlikely seeing as the growth rate of homo sapiens is miniscule compared to that of the common taraxacum officinale or stellaria media."

Everyone there stared blankly at her as usual no one but her truly understood exactly what she was talking about.

With an aggravated sigh, she pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "Dandelions and chickweed grow much faster than human beings."

"Oh... I should have known that," Reese replied as he pondered in mock thought.

Even though the usual lack of high intelligence in her family annoyed her, Lisa still managed to let a smile out as she latched onto Reese's arm. It was a tight hug too that given how hard she grasped him she could easily cut off his circulation. But she knew better than to do that and let go of him once she sensed that he was becoming a little uncomfortable. Even though he still had the basic intelligence as the rest of her family, she had to admit that she was still happy to see him.

"I take it I'm forgiven then?" he asked her.

Lisa nodded and said, "Affirmative."

Reese let out a little chuckle and ruffled her hair once more to her annoyance. Reese stood back up to see baby Lily still sitting in her mother's arms. The child looked up at the strange man that she had never seen before, but still smiled regardless and chuckled at him.

"And who's this little cutie?" Reese asked already knowing the answer.

Rita held Lily up to him and said, "This is Lily. Who did you think it was?"

Reese shrugged and said, "Just thought I'd check. So this is the little poop machine? Mind if I hold her?"

Rita nodded and let Reese take the one year old into his arms. She laughed and tried to reach up to the metal tags hanging down from his neck. He had to move her little hand away from them to keep her from grabbing them.

"Ah ah ah little one. That's not a toy," he said which made her giggle once more.

"Poo poo," she giggled out loud.

Reese looked at Rita and asked, "Should I be alarmed about that?"

He got his answer when a foul odor filled his nostrils as Lily giggled some more.

Rita smirked and said, "Does that answer your question?"

She took Lily back and told Reese to wait with Lisa and Lola while she went to change Lily. Reese was just glad to get that kind of introduction out of the way. Despite the foul end to their introduction, it was still a good first meeting for Reese and Lily. He guided Lola and Lisa to a nearby bench for them to sit while they waited for Rita to return with Lily. Both girls sat on either side of him and he draped his arms around them. He had always spent a lot of time away from his family and he felt bad for it. So the few times he could actually spend time with them always hit him hard. Especially now with the news he was bringing home to them.

* * *

Some time later the group found themselves on the road leaving the city and headed back towards Royal Woods. Once the excitement of seeing their uncle had worn off, the girls quickly found themselves growing bored from the drive. Even Lisa had to admit that all the excitement had drained her and now she, Lola, and Lily were snoozing soundly behind Rita and Reese. Reese couldn't help but smile as he looked at them.

"You know I'm really surprised by Lola," Reese said quietly to keep the girls from waking up.

"Why's that?" Rita asked.

"Well usually when I come for a visit, she clings to me obsessively and lashes like a cat whenever someone tries to get her away. Love the girl but she can be a little... what's the word I'm looking for?"

Rita chuckled and said, "Wild is the best way to put it. She was just a little worried because of something that Lucy told her. But once she saw you, she must have forgotten it. I wouldn't dwell on it."

"Guess she had nothing to worry about then. I was just wondering because it wasn't like her."

Rita shrugged and said, "Think that's bad, just wait until you're around the house so much."

Reese started chuckling with her and then sat in silence for a bit. All he could do currently was watch the van's windshield wipers as it wiped the rain water off the window. They also had the radio off so that they wouldn't disturb the girls. The only sounds being that of the windshield wipers, the sound of the engine, and the girls soft snoozing. The silence was a little too much for Reese and he had to speak a little more.

"No one at home knows yet do they? Or the circumstances?" he asked Rita.

Rita shook her head and said, "No. Me and Lynn are the only ones who do. We figured you should be the one to tell the kids."

"Lynn Sr. or Lynn Jr?" Reese asked with some cheekiness in his voice.

Rita rolled her eyes with a laugh.

"He doesn't mind me staying with you guys until I can get things on track does he?" Reese asked.

"You kidding? It was entirely his idea. He was happy to hear the news," Rita answered.

The siblings shared a light laugh at Rita's response. They continued on and Reese couldn't help but yawn as boredom began to overtake him as well. Rita could see that he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

"You want to stop and get something to eat before we go back to the house? It's going to be a while before we get there," she asked.

Reese shook his head and said, "Ate on the flights. Just tired right now."

"When was the last time you slept?"

Reese took a moment to think and said, "I've only had a few hours of sleep in the past thirty hours. Had to stay awake to get on the flights."

"Why don't you go ahead and take a nap? You'll want to be wide awake when we get there," she said.

Reese wanted to argue, but fatigue was starting to get to him. Without another word, he leaned his head to the side and closed his eyes. It wasn't long before he too began to snore a bit. Rita observed him as best she could and turned her attention back to the road. Some time later they came to the exit that led back to Royal Woods. As she left the highway and slowed down for the off ramp, she hit a small bump and it jerked the van a little bit. She heard Reese groan a little bit and she couldn't tell, but she believed she could see his left hand twitching out of the corner of her eye. She figured that he must have been dreaming and decided to leave it be for now.

* * *

 **Well I think that'll do for the first chapter. I'm not used to writing for these characters yet so I may not have them all down properly. If anyone has any suggestions that can help, I would love to hear them. Anything that helps out would be greatly appreciated.**

 **Even though this story is more on the serious side, I still plan for there to be plenty of humorous as well. And before anyone asks, no Reese is not some war hero or super soldier. I'll reveal more as the story progresses.**


	2. Welcome Home

**I must say, I'm actually impressed by the amount of hits my first chapter got. Might not be a lot to some, but for me it's been my most successful first chapter of all time and it means a lot. Thanks for the support.**

 **In this chapter Reese's returns home and reveals some big news to the family. I think you folks might enjoy the reaction from the girls.**

 **Disclaimer: The Loud House is owned by Nickelodeon**

* * *

Back at the Loud House, everyone had finished up their chores and were now waiting in anticipation for Reese's arrival. All of the Loud kids and their father were sitting in the living room trying to watch TV while they waited. But no one was really paying attention to the screen, as they were too busy talking about how they were planning to spend time with their Uncle Reese. Even their father was looking forward to spending a little bonding time with his brother-in-law.

"Oh I hope he likes Bobby," Lori said out loud to no one in particular.

Leni was looking through some pictures of the two of them and said, "I just hope he doesn't plan to wear these same old colors while he's here. He could use a little variety."

Luna was strumming her guitar and was planning to show him how far she had come in her guitar practice. Luan planned to try out some jokes on him as he usually did laugh at them, even though many of the others believed he did it to keep her confidence up. He often took her pranks pretty well too. Lynn as usual just wanted to play catch with him.

As each of his sister planned their usual outings with Reese, Lincoln just couldn't help but sit and watch the commotion between them. He already knew his plans from the start and that was just to go down to the arcade with Reese and try to beat as many high scores as possible. It would take all their willpower, but he was determined to leave their mark on the arcade and dare other people to try and beat their legacy.

As the chatter continued, Lincoln turned his attention to the viewers and said, "Yeah this is pretty much how it goes every time Uncle Reese comes home. The girls spend all of their time discussing their plans while I just sit here with my plans already set. After that it's just a matter of time."

He turned his attention back the girls for a moment and saw that his dad was now also a part of the group chat. Something about taking Reese down to some place his dad frequented and having him meet some of the guys there. Lincoln couldn't catch it all due to the rising noise, but was able to figure what his dad was talking about. Reese was like the brother that their father never had and the two of them had a pretty close relationship as well.

Turning back to the viewers, Lincoln laughed and said, "You know, I actually feel bad for Uncle Reese right now. Once he steps through the door, he'll be inundated by a flood consisting of my sisters and my dad. Maybe it won't be as bad this time because mom took a few of the girls with her. But at the same time you never know what could happen. Like his first visit."

A flashback shows Reese's first visit to the family after joining the Army. He walks in through the door and mass of young girls tackled him to the ground and began hugging every free part of his torso, limbs and head.

"Or the year after that," Lincoln continued.

This time, Reese is seen walking in through the door and the girls, plus Lincoln, tackle him from behind the door.

"Last year's was the best," Lincoln continued with a laugh this time.

This time around, Reese walks in through the door and a bucket of water pours all over his head, courtesy of Luan, followed by him being ambushed by everyone (including Lynn Sr.) and pulled into one of the family's famous group hugs. As they expected, Reese took it all in good jest.

"I can't wait to see what happens this year," Lincoln concluded as a honk came from the driveway.

Each of the girls, Lincoln, and Lynn Sr. rushed to the window and could see Vanzilla pulling into the driveway. They could even see their mother trying to shake someone awake in the seat next to her.

"He's here," Leni said out loud.

"Okay kids listen. Everyone find a good hiding spot. We'll surprise him like we always do. You know he loves that," their father instructed them.

Everyone nodded and dashed to the closest hiding space. Lincoln decided to hide under the couch along with Lana with their heads casually poking out. As they heard the door knob turning, they quickly pulled their heads back in.

"Okay. Here we go," Lincoln said to the viewers one last time.

* * *

Vanzilla drove up to the house and pulled into the driveway. Rita parked up and turned her attention to the sleeping girls in the back.

"Girls, we're home. It's time to wake up," she said as she gently shook Lola's shoulder.

Lola woke up with a yawn and even Lisa woke up from the van having stopped. Lily however continued to sleep on due to her being a heavy sleeper. The only other person still asleep was Uncle Reese. Rita wanted to let him rest for just a little bit longer, but she knew that the rest of the family didn't want to wait any longer. So she reached over and began to shake him awake.

"Reese, wake up. We're back at the house," she said as Reese began to grumble.

Reese yawned and said, "Wha? Where did the base go?"

Of course, he was still half asleep. Rita knew that her kid brother had always been a sound sleeper, once even slept through a tornado warning with the sirens sounding at full blast. She shook him one more time and this time he woke with a start.

"Huh wha? What happened?" he said as he shook his head.

Lisa leaned forward and said, "Mother was just saying that we have arrived back at our cacophonous abode. Our noisy household if you will."

Reese took a second to think and then he groaned and let out a laugh.

"Right, of course," he said and then went to open his door, but Rita stopped him.

"Wait a second. You know how the girls always surprise you when you walk in through the front?" she asked her brother.

Reese nodded and a plan began to form in Rita's head. She whispered it into Reese's ear who began nodding approvingly. She then turned to the other girls and whispered it to them. Lola was enthusiastic about it. Even Lisa, who usually was against such tomfoolery, had to admit it would be nice for Uncle Reese to get the drop on everyone else for a change. Besides she still had to get back at them for ruining an experiment she had been working on a couple of days before.

Everyone in the car minus Lily, who was still asleep, nodded at each other and put their plan into action.

* * *

The front door opened and someone stepped in. As soon as they all heard the sound of someone shaking off rainwater and the door closing, all the kids and their dad jumped from their hiding spots.

"SURPRISE!" they all hollered as they popped out.

But standing before them was not their uncle, but their mother and three younger sisters instead.

"Oh my goodness. What's the special occasion?" asked their mother.

At the revelation that it was not their uncle, each of the kids and dad let out a collective groan. Rita let out a chuckle as Lisa and Lola took off their raincoats and put on their best straight faces as everyone looked down.

"Sorry everyone. I guess I wasn't what you were expecting," Rita said calmly as she slipped off her raincoat.

Lynn and Luna gave disappointed looks and walked back to the couch. Lori groaned and went back to texting to Bobby, probably about her disappointment. Lucy merely said, "Sigh" and went back to writing her dark poetry. Almost everyone else there were prepared to leave the room, but instead joined Lynn and Luna by the couch.

Leni however was confused and asked, "Hey wait a minute. Where's Uncle Piece."

Lincoln shook his head and said, "Uncle Reese Leni. But she has a good question mom. Where's Uncle Reese? Weren't you picking him up?"

Rita pondered in mock thought for a moment and said, "Oh yeah I was, but something came up."

"Huh? But I saw you sitting outside with him in the car. Where did he go?" Lincoln innocently asked her.

Just as he said that, everyone heard the sound of the basement door opening and someone walking through the kitchen and approaching the living room, they all turned their heads to the kitchen doorway and saw what they expected.

"He just wanted to get the drop on everyone else for a change," Reese said as he entered the room.

Reese didn't have time to react as the screaming began as most of the girls jumped up from their seats and tackled him to the ground in one of the family's infamous group hugs. The only ones who didn't were the ones who had gone with Rita and Lori who was telling Bobby to ignore a previous text she had sent. Lincoln decided to sit back and wait for the girls to have their turn with Uncle Reese and wait for the frenzy to conclude. Once the girls were off of him and he was pulled back up to his feet, courtesy of Leni and Luna.

After dusting himself off he smiled and said, "Now that's an introduction I was expecting. Though I was kind of disappointed that it was just a simple pop out and yell surprise thing you guys planned this time around."

With that he wrapped an arm around Luan and ruffled her hair.

"Especially with the master of all pranks right here," he added and chuckled.

Luan laughed with him and said, "Well sometimes you just can't beat a classic. But I guess the joke was on me this time."

The two laughed a little more as Leni wrapped her own arm around her uncle. Despite being a military man, Reese was still of average height and both he and Leni were relativly close to the same height. There have even been times where they were mistaken for cousins or even siblings. Imagine the awkwardness people feel when they are told the truth.

"Uncle Piece you must do something about those colors you're wearing. Add something different," Leni said while brushing his shirt off.

Lori rolled her eyes and said, "It's Reese, Leni. Besides he can't do anything about those clothes, they're part of his uniform."

The rest of the family with the exception of Lynn Sr. and Rita voiced agreement with Lori. That is until Reese laughed and continued.

"Well Lori there's actually something I should tell you guys about," he said and turned his head to Rita.

Rita nodded her approval as did Lynn Sr.

He stepped away from the family for a moment and said, "Last week I got the official papers and all I had to was sign and get them processed. I am now officially discharged from the Army. I'm home for good."

The kids then stopped and stared with disbelief with the exception of Leni who didn't fully realize the meaning.

"You mean that you don't need to pay your bills anymore?" she asked.

Lisa groaned and rolled her eyes at Leni's usually ditziness.

"No Leni. It means that Uncle Reese is out of the Army for good. Meaning he's not going back and that he's here to stay," Lisa informed her dimwitted sister.

Reese laughed out loud and said, "Right on the nose Lisa."

Lisa smiled approvingly and said, "Thank you for the compliment. Now I know it's not very characteristic of me to do this, but I just have to do this. YAY! UNCLE REESE IS HERE TO STAY!"

As a result, all of the girls screamed and pulled Reese into another one of their crushing group hugs. The only ones who held back were Lincoln and Lucy as they knew better than to get in the middle of the frenzy of affection.

Lincoln turns back to the audience and said, "See now this is one of the things I was talking about. With a family so big, you have to try to get all of the attention that you can. Sometimes it's a good idea to join in the attack. But sometimes it's safer to sit back and wait."

He crossed his arms and continued watching the display. The he became too excited and said, "Especially now because... YEAH! UNCLE REESE IS HERE FOR GOOD!"

Without a second thought, Lincoln ran up and joined the group hug with Luna and Lynn making room for him to join in. Lucy watched them and tried to resist the urge to join them. But despite her dark nature, she couldn't bear it and joined in next to Lincoln. No one could tell how long the group hug lasted as time seemed to stand still for them. It wasn't until their father began clapping his hands that they were all brought back to reality.

"Okay kids that's enough. I know you're all excited by Uncle Reese's news, I know I am too. But he's had a long trip and I think he could use some rest," Lynn Sr. told all the kids which resulted in a group groan.

Reese found himself breathing easier once all the kids let go of him. Not that he didn't like the affection the kids had for him, but he would like to breath as well and not have his lungs crushed by family.

Reese straightened his jacket out and said, "Hey it's no worries gang. I still have plenty of time for us all to hang out. Until then I should probably get cleaned up. I haven't showered for a few days."

At the mention of his lack of showering, all the kids with the exception of Lana backed away from him.

"What? What's everyone's problem?" asked Lana as she scowled.

With that, Reese picked up his duffle bag that he had dropped when the kids had tackled him earlier.

"Bathroom still at the end of the hall?" he asked.

"As always and it's empty right now," Lincoln answered.

Reese hoisted his bag over his shoulder and began making his way up stairs.

"Thanks sport," Reese said to Lincoln and even jostled the hair atop his hair as he walked right by.

The kids watched Reese as he proceeded up the stairs. As soon as they heard the bathroom door close, the kids all went back to their usual everyday activities. Rita decided to follow Reese upstairs so that she could put Lily down for a nap and see if her brother needed anything. And Lynn Sr. decided to join the kids in watching TV on the couch.

"Well now that the excitement has died down, I think it's time to get back down to business as usual," Lincoln said and pulled out his newest Ace Savvy comic. "With my new comic book."

* * *

In the meantime, Reese had opened up his duffle bag in the bathroom and began pulling out his old clothes. His jacket and dog tags were hanging up on a plastic hook nearby as he prepared to take a shower. He couldn't help but take a glance around the bathroom as waves of thoughts came over him. Everything just seemed too surreal to him. To know that was back with family at long last and wouldn't have to worry his own safety except with trying to survive ten nieces and his nephew, all of whom were less dangerous than the hazards he had had to face previously. He had to savor the moment.

Knock-knock

"Yeah?" Reese answered back.

"Reese it's me. Just wanted to know if there's anything you need real quick," Rita asked him through the door.

Reese took a quick glance around the bathroom and said, "Nope. I think I'm good."

"Okay. Just tell me if you need anything," Rita told him and then began walking away.

Reese had just started the bathwater and the shower when he looked over and noticed that he had forgotten to grab some soap from downstairs.

"Crap! I forgot to grab the soap."

"Coming up," came Lynn Jr.'s voice from below.

Out of nowhere a bar of soap, still in it's box, suddenly popped up from the floor by the tub. Reese caught it before it could fall back down. He thanked Lynn from above and began to undress for his shower. It was then that the realization began to hit and he decided to take another quick look. He went back to the spot where the soap had popped up from and he raised his eyebrows at the sight.

"WHY IS THERE A HOLE IN THE BATHROOM FLOOR!?" Reese hollered.

* * *

 **So I meant to have this finished a couple of days ago. But there's been a lot of storms lately and as a result it's been flooding here. The internet has been going on and off all week because of this. So the next chapter shouldn't take as long to make hopefully.**

 **So now Reese is home and the kids are excited. Next it'll be time for his first dinner back with the family. Will it be a peaceful meal? Or will things be loud as usual?**


	3. Dinner

**Before I begin the chapter I'd like give a couple of shout outs. First to FrancisVamp0822 and the second goes to TormentedRaven2000 for their regular support. For those that haven't read it, I highly recommend checking out TormentedRaven2000's story Lincoln Addiction. It's a very heart wrenching story that even tugs at my heart strings. It's well worth reading.**

 **I know there are a few others who deserve a little praise, but trust me when I say I appreciate all the support you good people have given.**

 **Also I decided to go with the family all at one table like we see in Fed Up instead of adding the kiddie table. I did this cause I felt like that the things that Reese is going through should make them all involved. This chapter and the next will do just that.**

 **I'm also going to include Luna's running gag from the series where she references song titles. If you look at my pen name it's obvious that I'm a rock fan. I felt that I just have to include this gag. Song titles will be in italics and referenced in the chapter closer.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Loud House or any of it's contents.**

* * *

After showering, Reese went down to the basement where Rita had set up a bed and stand for him. Sure it wasn't exactly luxurious and the sound of the washer and dryer were a little loud. But the noise and lack of comfort wasn't really new to him. He'd spent many nights sleeping in trucks and even the barracks around dozens of other men who would frequently disturb him when he tried to sleep. Getting a good night's sleep was next to impossible during his time serving. In fact most of the time, is was nicer to sleep in the cab of the truck than tempt fate in the barracks.

But here he was now lying on the small bed that Rita had set up with no worries. The mattress itself wasn't too bad either. Sure it was a little old and was hardly springy, but at least it felt nice to lie on and felt a little comfortable at the very least. It was already a step up for him.

He was trying to nap a little, but the excitement in the air made it hard to do so. He could hear the kids talking upstairs and going back and forth with their activities as they usually did. He could even hear loud music playing from the upper floor indicating that Luna was playing her guitar right now. Reese smiled to himself and even wanted to go up and jam to her music. But his limbs demanded rest and here he was trying to let them recover.

The basement door creaked open and Reese could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. He turned over in the bed and he could see Lori walking down the stairs carrying a laundry basket. She set the basket down and looked over at Reese.

"Oh sorry Uncle Reese. I didn't wake you did I?" she asked.

Reese shook his head and said, "No not at all kiddo. Tell you the truth I wasn't even really asleep. I can feel a lot of excitement in the air."

Lori smiled and crossed her arms as she leaned against the washer. She still had a couple of minutes before the timer went off so why not chat for a little bit.

"Yeah that's true. Everyone upstairs is literally talking about you. Is it true though? Are you really here to stay?" she asked with excitement rising in her voice.

Reese nodded and said, "True as apple pie. Though don't get used to me living here. I'm only staying here until I can on my feet."

Lori's smiled dropped and she said, "Oh. I see."

Reese could hear the disappointment in her voice and he let out a laugh and said, "Don't worry though. I'll still be living nearby. Think I would really up and move too far away from you guys after spending so much time away as it is."

That seemed to brighten Lori up a bit. She smiled once again, came over to the bed and took a seat right next to Reese. Despite the nine year age gap between the two of them, Lori actually did appear to be an inch or two taller than him. Reese stood at a medium height, a quality that kept him out of combat and kept him doing menial labor. Like with Leni, whenever Lori and Reese hung out they were often mistaken for cousins or siblings. Didn't help that Lori and Reese shared a number of qualities with Rita. The blonde hair and face shape were just the primary aspects.

"So did you get your birthday present? I know it wasn't much bu-," Reese began before Lori interupted him.

"Oh you mean the Army jacket? Yeah I was a bit mystified at it at first. I mean why would you send me that?" she stated.

Reese shrugged and said, "I remember you saying you needed a jacket, so I sent you my old one. I figured you could have gotten some use out of it."

Lori smiled and gave a nearly evil look in her eyes.

"Oh it has. The moment that I first put it on, I felt a little more powerful. Almost like I could take on literally anything."

"Such as?" asked Reese.

"Whenever mom and dad go out, they always leave me in a charge of the household. Know how hard it is to keep a house full of noisy siblings in line? It's next to impossible."

The look never left Lori's eyes.

"And? Go on," Reese inquired.

"The moment I put the jacket on I felt like I could finally tackle anything. I stepped in one night and put my foot down. Even used some of that fancy Army dialect that you taught me. All I needed was a whistle and next thing you know, BAM, everyone keeps in line. Sucks I have to do that to them, but at the very least it keeps the house standing. Better they be bored than the house collapse leaving us with nothing."

Reese chuckled at Lori's story and pulled her in for a hug which she gratefully returned.

"That's my girl. Sacrificing fun for necessity. You'd do well in the Army," he told her as he patted her shoulder.

They pulled away from the hug and her eyes beamed.

"Y-you really think so?" she asked.

Reese nodded and said, "Yeah. But that's not in your plans is it?"

Lori shook her head and said, "Nope. Going to try to go for a CEO position someday."

Reese nodded in approval. It was here that the timer went off and Lori jumped up from the bed.

"That's the washer. Gotta get back to work," she said and went back to her task.

Reese understood and decided to lie back down and try to rest a little bit more. Lori finished up her task as she picked up the basket of the newly dried laundry after transferring the loads. She started up the stairs, but turned back to Reese part of the way up.

"By the way. Mom says that dinner will be at seven. She's making one of your favorites," she called back to him.

She walked out, but Reese hadn't heard her. He had finally managed to fall asleep and was comfortably snoozing on his bed.

* * *

Reese found himself stepping out into the hot dry air with the sun beating down on him. Just a few seconds in this stifling heat was enough to make one start sweating and feel thirst. He had a simple assignment of driving a supply of medical supplies to a hospital that was a twelve hour drive away. Because of the length and urgency of the delivery it was going to be a straight shot with limited breaks. So he was going to need a partner for this drive.

His previous partner had been sent home recently and so he had been assigned a new one. Reese hadn't liked the previous guy very much, so he didn't have any high hopes for the new guy. He approached the truck he was assigned and could see someone leaning against it with his arms crossed.

The man stood taller than Reese by several inches and looked intimidating behind his sunglasses. He was African-American and had a more muscular build than Reese. But once he smiled and addressed Reese upon shaking his hand, all the tension left Reese.

"Morning there. Master Sergeant Bobby Senger at your service," the man said as he shook Reese's hand.

Reese approached him and said, "Corporal Reese Kreeg. Nice to make your acquaintance Sarge."

Bobby laughed and said, "Just call me Bobby. It's less formal."

Reese chuckled and prepared to climb into the cab.

Before he could though, Bobby turned to him and said, "Hey Reese you want me to take the first shift? Hey Reese... Reese... Reese..."

* * *

"Reese? Reese you need to wake up," came Rita Loud's voice as she tried to shake her brother awake.

Reese grumbled a bit and went back to sleep. She tried to shake him awake one more time, but yielded the same result. Without any other alternative, Rita quickly went back upstairs and reappeared a second later with one of her daughters, Luna with her as well as one of Luna's speakers and her guitar. After setting it up really quickly, her mother gave her an approving nod telling her to do it.

"Remember, just loud enough to wake him up. Don't blow up his ear drums," Rita advised.

Luna nodded and then let out a quick chord that resonated from her speakers letting out a loud screech from the guitar. The sudden noise made Reese jump and roll out of his bed with a shriek. He began to sit back up and shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears right now. Both Rita and Luna began to laugh as Reese began to realize what had happened.

"Oh ha ha. Very funny," Reese said while frowning and glaring at the both of them.

Rita's laughter began to die out and she said, "Sorry bud, but I tried to wake you the easy way. So this had to do."

Luna continued to laugh and said, "Oh come on, cheer up Unc. I'm just trying to _Light up the Night."_

Reese laughed weakly and began to pull himself back up to his feet.

"That you did Moonshine. That you did," he said he stretched his back with a pop.

Luna groaned and said, "You know I hate it when you call me that."

Reese shrugged and said, "I thought you liked it."

"Yeah when I was seven or nine. I've outgrown it," she argued back.

Moonshine had been a nickname that Reese had given Luna when she was little because her name reminded him of the glare of the moon. Truth be told, Luna thought it had been awesome when she was little. But now that she was older, all that the name did was make her think of was people living in the hills who made illegal alcoholic beverages. So she really wanted to distance herself from the name as much as possible.

"So what are you now. Twelve? Thirteen?" he asked mockingly.

Luna knew he was just teasing but still felt that she needed to fire back.

"Fifteen. Remember? You actually skyped us during my birthday," she stated.

Reese smirked and said, "Of course I remember Luna. I just like to tease you."

That's what made Luna brighten up a little. She unplugged her speakers and guitar and prepared to head upstairs.

"Thanks for your help Luna," Rita said.

Luna nodded and said, "My pleasure."

As Luna left, Rita turned to her brother and said, "Dinner's ready. Lynn decided to splurge a little tonight and made one of your favorites."

Reese smiled and said, "You mean-?"

"Yep. Chicken and dumplings tonight," she answered for him.

That brought life back into Reese's eyes as he silently thanked Lynn. Rita went back upstairs as Reese followed closely behind.

"But seriously though, was that wake up call necessary?" he asked.

"I wouldn't have to do it if you had woken up the first time," she answered smugly.

Reese grumbled as he made his way upstairs. By the time he got up to the kitchen, Lynn Sr. had just finished up with dinner and he was carrying it towards the dining room. Reese could smell the soup that Lynn had made and his mouth was already watering. He knew that Lynn was a good cook and he had passed that on to a couple of his kids, especially Lincoln and Leni. He couldn't wait to taste the hot and hearty broth.

Lynn spotted him and said, "Well you coming or what? Dinner's ready."

Reese nodded and followed him into the dining room. The entire family was already seated at the table, chatting among themselves with Lincoln having moved next to Lisa. He figured it would be best to let his uncle sit at that end of the table as he was their guest. Reese took his seat there and turned to the family.

"Hey, how's everyone tonight?" Reese asked enthusiastically.

Everyone stopped their conversations and gave out their own answers. Ranging from saying they were just good, to really excited. Or in Lisa's case where she simply said she was adequate and Lucy just answering with a sigh. Reese couldn't help but chuckle at their answers and Lynn set the pot of soup on the table.

"Alright kids I decided to make something special for us tonight," Lynn addressed the family.

"Hey I'm a grown man. Why am I one of the kids?" Reese asked as a joke.

Lynn rolled his eyes and continued on. "Alright so I made chicken and dumplings tonight, one of your uncles favorites."

The kids let out some small cheers as Lynn began to fill up their bowls one by one, giving Reese the first bowl. As soon as they had gotten their bowls the kids couldn't help but dig in. As could be expect, their father's cooking was good and they were glad they weren't getting one of his monotonous meals. Everyone was enjoying the soup. The sight of his kids enjoying the meal, made Lynn Sr. happy. But then he and his wife noticed something peculiar.

Reese wasn't eating his soup and was actually spooning it instead. As they watched, they noticed that he seemed to be staring at it rather blankly. Like he had no idea what he was looking at or where he even was.

"Reese?" Lynn Sr. called to him from across the table.

When Reese didn't answer, Rita walked over to him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Reese jumped a little at her touch and broke out of his trance.

"Reese? Are you okay? You aren't eating," she asked with concern in her voice.

Reese looked at the rest of the family and noticed that some of them were looking at the two of them. Lori, Lincoln, both Lynns, and even Luna were looking in his direction. Lori and Lynn Sr. both had looks of concern on them.

Reese cleared his head and said, "Yeah. Just thinking about civilian life is all. Don't worry, I'm fine."

Rita sighed in relief and returned to her seat. She was even happy to see that Reese was beginning to eat his dinner. But as Reese had started to eat, a couple of the kids were getting a little restless.

Lola had finished her soup and tried to get her father's attention for seconds. But her father was too focused on his own food as well as conversing with his wife to take notice. Lola began to fume, but then looked to Lana's bowl right next to her. Lana still had half of her soup left and was busy feeding some small pieces of chicken to their dog, Charles, under the table. So Lola smiled one of her evil smiles and grabbed Lana's bowl and tried to stealthily swap it for hers. But in the process, Lana sat back up and caught Lola in the middle of the act.

Lana growled and shouted, "HEY! THAT'S MINE!"

Lana grabbed the bowl and the next thing they and everyone else knew, the girls were struggling over the bowl.

"Nuh-uh. You weren't even eating it," Lola fought back as she pulled on the bowl.

"It's mine," Lana said as she pulled back.

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"MINE!" they both screamed at the same time.

Lynn Sr. stood up from his seat said, "Okay girls, that is enough!"

But his intervention didn't help as the girls still fought and the next thing they knew, Lana lost her grip and it's contents went spilling out. Lola was able to duck before the soup hit her, but it did spill onto the head of the person sitting next to her. That person happened to be Uncle Reese. The soup spilled onto his head and began running down the side of his face.

Both Lola and Lana cringed as they quickly realized what they had just done. They looked around and noticed half the family at the table was glaring daggers at the two of them and the other half were looking at Reese. Reese himself just seemed to stare at nothing, probably out of surprise.

Lana scratched the back of her head said, "Sorry Uncle Reese."

"We didn't mean for that to happen," Lola said apologetically.

Reese however didn't hear them. Nor did he hear as Lori and Leni both got up from their seats. Instead, what he heard was something far more tense.

* * *

Pain shot through Reese's left leg as tried to kick out the busted windshield of his truck with his right. A sharp pain ran through his head as he could feel something wet and warm ran down his face. He knew that he had to get out before it was too late. He could smell fuel and could hear the crackling of flames from nearby.

He finally managed to kick the glass out and started trying to drag himself out of the truck, scrapping glass along the way. But he was stopped when pain shot through his leg again and he looked to see that it was pinned under some heavy weight, but couldn't tell what it was that had him caught.

He couldn't move and he couldn't breath as the realization hit that he was trapped.

* * *

"Reese! Snap out of it," as Rita shook him hard once again.

Lori and Leni were both wiping the spilled soup off of Reese as he had just been sitting there staring for the past minute making no noise but heavy breathing. Out of nowhere he began to breathe more heavily and almost seemed to be choking.

"Reese come on," Rita said and then patted him on the back.

That's when Reese snapped out of his little episode. He looked back around the table and saw that everyone was staring in his direction with concerned looks. Reese could see them, but that's not what was on his mind. He was taking deep breaths, but still felt like he couldn't breathe. Without saying a word, he jumped from the table and rushed for the front door and out onto the porch.

Rita turned to the twins who both looked remorseful for their behavior.

"We'll talk about this later you two. I need to go check on your uncle," she said and went to the front door.

Everyone else looked back at Lola and Lana and shook their heads at them.

Lincoln turned his attention to the viewers and said, "Well none of us saw that coming. Uncle Reese has had some problems in the past, but he's never done that before. I hope he's okay."

* * *

Reese stood by a post on the porch and found himself breathing much more easily and was beating himself up after what had just happened. He had probably just given the kids a good fright after his little episode.

"Not again. Please don't let this continue, not here," Reese said quietly to himself and beat his head against his hand.

He heard the door open and turned to see Rita there. He couldn't see it but she had just had a couple of tears running down from her eyes, but she had wiped them away before hand. Last thing she wanted was for her little brother to see her cry.

"Reese? What just happened?" Rita asked sadly.

Reese shook his head and said, "I just needed to get some air. The girls didn't mean for that to happen and I didn't want to explode at them. Guess I could have handled it better."

Rita bought his explanation as she had been informed previously by his superiors that he had had some agitation issues prior to his discharge and that she should keep an eye on him. It was one of the reasons why she and Lynn had insisted on him staying with them until he could get himself back on his feet.

Reese looked back to her and said, "I need a few minutes alone. Tell the kids I'm sorry for what just happened and that I'll talk to them about it later."

Rita nodded and went back inside. Reese sighed as he stared out at the street, fearful of what the kids must think of him now.

* * *

 **Well that was not expected now was it? Poor Reese has some bad memories which is to be expected from his line of work.**

 **The song referenced in this chapter is called Light Up the Night by The Protomen. The song and group are lesser known, but both are very good and deserve to be checked out. Go ahead and look them up.**

 **The next chapter is going to focus more on the Loud kids as we look into their thoughts on this evenings events.**


	4. Sibling Meeting

**Not much to say currently. Had this chapter planned, but work on it had to be delayed due to work and cleaning up in town because of the flooding we had. Moreover, this week we begin our summer hours at work and they prove to be pretty tight so chapter updates may be a little sporadic.**

 **So it's time to stop stalling and get to the next chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Loud House or it's characters.**

* * *

Some time later, Reese was sitting at a desk back in the basement. He had made sure to apologize to the kids and their parents about his little incident and to assure them that he was alright. That what happened was simply an overreaction and that all he needed was some time alone and he would be fine. Suffice it to say, the kids were disappointed but understood why he'd want to be left alone. Lana and Lola had apologized to him and he tried to assure them that he wasn't mad. Regardless, the two felt really guilty about what had happened and wanted to rush downstairs to talk to him. But in a rare move for them, the two respected his wishes and let him be for now.

So now he sat in the basement by himself and pulled a video camera out of his duffle bag. Without a word, he set it oh his desk and switched it on. He stared into the camera for a full minute before finally addressing it.

"This is Sergeant Reese Kreeg, former US Army. Well I've been back in my sister's place for about ten hours now. Things have been a little... interesting to say the least. My sister was happy to see me, as was her husband and their many kids."

Reese paused and took a moment to chuckle at himself.

"I was hoping that my time here would be a bit more peaceful, well peaceful enough for a house with thirteen people living in it. Anyhow, the reason I'm recording this video right now is due to a recommendation from a doctor at the hospital that I stayed at. I've been doing this every time I have one of my little... episodes."

He used air quotes to emphasize the word "episodes".

"It's been a while now, but I just had one earlier tonight at dinner. It wouldn't have been so bad except that it happened right in front of the entire family."

Reese buried his face in his hands and remained quiet for a full minute. He could feel himself shuddering as he kept his face concealed. He let out a sigh and removed his hands and looked back into the camera.

"I know I scared them pretty bad, but I tried to assure them that I was okay. Pfft... I really doubt that I am. Not since that last trip."

With that, Reese looked over at a framed picture on the desk. It was of him and his old driving buddy, Bobby, with their arms draped over each other's shoulders somewhere in the desert. They were both smiling and giving a thumbs up to the camera. Reese chuckled to himself as he tried to remember it fondly.

"Bobby, I wish you were still here buddy. I know I could really use your guidance right now. For the time being I'm going to have to be more careful around the family. I don't need them to know about my time in the hospital. Especially the girls. I've seen how they get when my nephew, Lincoln, gets just a tiny wound. They have enough to worry about without my episodes."

With that, Reese reached towards his camera and placed his finger on the power button.

"This is Sergeant Reese Kreeg, signing off," he said right before he switched the camera off.

* * *

As Reese recorded his video, all of the Loud kids were a little occupied themselves. They had all (with the exception of Lily) met in Lori's room that night as they did some nights for one of their sibling meetings. This was the time where the kids normally met to discuss things about the family be it plans for something like vacation or a problem that the siblings are having that impact each of them. The one rule was that you never went into anything too personal.

Tonight however they were meeting over a common thing. Their uncle's little episode had left each of them a little shaken, especially Lola and Lana who were still blaming themselves for his freak out. Despite reassurances from their siblings and uncle, the two still felt anxious to make it up to him. But for now they each need to have their say about the incident.

Lori stood before everyone and said, "Okay everyone I need you to listen up."

She was interrupted however by the sound of chewing and she quickly spotted Lynn chewing something and blowing a bubble which promptly popped.

Lori scowled and said, "Lynn, spit out the Big League Chew right now."

Lynn kicked back, continued chewing and said, "Aww come on Lori. I just started chewing it a second ago."

Lori growled and some steam rose from the top of her head.

"In the wastebasket... now! We have something important to discuss and I won't let your chewing disrupt it," Lori said as she went red in the face.

Lynn, finally getting the hint, picked up Lori and Leni's wastebasket and slowly let her wad of chewed gum fall in the basket full of papers and a few other items. Lori was still glaring by the time Lynn had set the trash back on the ground and resumed her up right posture.

Lori sighed and said, "Anyway as I was saying, we all know why I called this meeting right?"

"Because of Uncle Reese's outburst right?" Luna asked already knowing the answer.

Lori tapped the tip of her nose to confirm what Luna was saying.

Luan laughed and said, "Can't blame him really. Being hit with chicken soup like that was just fowl. Get it? Fowl."

She continued to even as everyone, instead of sighing like usual, just frowned and glared at her. The only exception being Leni who didn't quite get the joke or why everyone else seemed so mad at Luan.

"I don't get it. And why is everyone so mad suddenly?" Leni asked out loud.

Leni's question reached Luan's ears and as her laughs began to die down, she quickly noticed the looks everyone else was giving her and that's what caused her to end her laughs completely.

Her smile dropped and she asked, "Too soon?"

"Far too soon," Lori answered.

It was here that Luan began to frown as the realization hit and she took her seat right next to Luna.

" _For what it's worth_ Luan, thanks for at least trying to brighten up the mood," Luna said as she tried to cheer her roommate up.

That made Luan smile just a little bit. She and Luna weren't the closest siblings, but they had lived together long enough to know how to keep each others spirits up. They weren't trying to be mean to Luan, they just wanted her to know that her joke was not appropriate right now.

Lori cleared her throat and everyone returned their attention to her.

"With that out of the way does anyone have any thoughts on what happened?" Lori asked.

To Lori's surprise, everyone had an idea about the incident as each of them raised their hands.

Lori sweat dropped, rubbed the back of her neck and whispered to herself, "Okay I didn't expect this. Who should I start with?"

She peered around and decided to go with Lincoln first.

"Okay Lincoln, what are your thoughts? You have the floor."

Everyone lowered their hands as Lincoln addressed, "Well mom said that he's had a long trip and he didn't sleep much during it. Know how grouchy we all get when we don't get enough sleep?"

The girls knew what he meant. Just like anyone else, there had been times in the past when they all had had hadn't been able to get much sleep either because of school like Lincoln's project on them or through something else preventing it like the time Lynn had bunked with him. Lincoln had a negative attitude each time that happened and he was normally the tame one. If it were Lori who was that tired or if it was Lisa burning the midnight for one of her experiments then god have mercy on your soul if you wake them afterwards.

Lori thought over what Lincoln was saying and said, "Good theory, but he wasn't acting like that at the dinner table or when I was doing the laundry earlier so I doubt it."

Lincoln groaned and looked down.

Lynn, who was sitting next to him, patted his shoulder and said, "Don't feel down. I thought the same."

"Anyone else?" Lori asked.

This time only half of them raised their hands as clearly the rest of them had the same thought as Lincoln. Leni kept her's up and tried her best to get Lori's attention. Lori decided to ignore her for now and instead chose Luna.

"Okay Luna. What you got?" she asked.

"Well I get the feeling that he's angry inside. I mean who knows what he went through while he was away? Maybe he saw something or something happened that made him mad. Maybe he's still mad about it and doesn't want us to see it," Luna suggested.

Almost everyone nodded in approval this time, including Lori.

"If that's the case then we should get him to open up. Clyde has told me some of the things he discusses with his psychiatrist. According to them, the best way to deal with anger is to face it head on. Get him to open up about what happened would be a good place to start," Lincoln offered.

"Hey that's not a bad idea bro," Luna responded.

"Makes sense to me," added Luan.

"I can totally see that," Leni said not really understanding Lincoln's idea. She just wanted to be included.

Even Lori thought the idea was tantalizing and figured it was the best idea yet. But she still wanted to know what everyone else was thinking and decided to carry on with everyone else's thoughts.

"Okay that not a bad idea. But does anyone else have anything?" she asked.

Leni stuck her hand in the air again and once again was desperate for Lori to call her.

"Ooh ooh Lori, I have an idea. Lori... Lori," Leni called out multiple times.

Lori had finally had enough of Leni's pestering and said, "Okay Leni. What's your idea?"

"Maybe he's just cranky and needs sleep," she suggested.

This time Lori was not alone in groaning as everyone else there let out their own groans as well.

"Leni we literally just went over that two minutes ago when Lincoln said that. What were you doing during that time?" Lori asked as she glared at Leni.

Leni thought for a moment to try to remember what she had been doing. In the end though she simply shrugged.

"I can't remember," was Leni's response.

Everyone rolled their eyes and Lori decided she'd had enough of Leni's airheadedness right now and decided to continue.

"So anyone else?"

This time, only Lisa raised her hand. Lori figured Lisa may have the right answer and allowed her to speak.

"Well as I observed Uncle Reese's behavior this evening I noticed a couple of peculiar things that do fit Luna's idea but also run against it. As mother and father said he has a fondness for chicken and dumplings. Even an angry individual would partake in their favored cuisine, which he clearly did not. He even seemed to be in some kind of trance, as you will, at the table that prevented him from consuming dinner. It wasn't until he was addressed that he was pulled out of his stupor and began to eat. And it wasn't until the spill that he proceeded to act erratically. First with heavy breathing and then with him running from the table. In my expert opinion there is something amiss on the psychological scale. To put it plainly, there's something wrong inside his brain," Lisa explained as best she could without overwhelming their brains.

Leni was the only exception as even with Lisa's simplified explainaition she still couldn't grasp the whole psychological aspect.

"You mean... his brain is sick?" she said and began to tear up.

Lori facepalmed and said, "Leni, go stand in the corner until the meeting is over."

"But-," Leni began to say until Lori interrupted her.

"Corner... NOW!" Lori finished indicating that she wasn't kidding and pointed at the nearest corner.

Leni was aghast, but didn't want to invoke Lori's wrath any more than she already had. Drooping her head, she walked to the corner and stood there with everyone else watching.

"So what do we do to help him?" Lana asked.

"Well I like Lincoln's idea of trying to get him to open up about his time away. Knowing Uncle Reese though that will be difficult to do," Lori said while trying to think up an idea.

"Why don't I talk to the spirits of his fallen brothers-in-arms?" Lucy said as she randomly appeared behind Lori.

Lori jumped and screamed at Lucy's sudden appearance behind her.

"Lucy? How did...? I could have sworn...," Lori stammered.

She knew Lucy had been on the other side of the room a minute ago, hiding under one of the beds to sit in the shadows. She wanted to question it, but knew it would be pointless to ask. Lucy would have just given her some confusing explaination anyway.

Lori kept her cool and said, "Okay you can try that if you want, but I just want to see if we have any PRACTICAL ideas."

Lucy kept her emotionless look and said, "Nothing is more practical than contacting the dead for wisdom."

She slinked back down with a sigh as Lori began forming an idea in her head.

"Okay so here's what I think we should do. First Lola and Lana," Lori began.

The twins suddenly perked up when Lori stated their names.

"First the two of you need to apologize to Uncle Reese about the chicken and dumplings incident. A REAL apology and not a simple 'I'm sorry'. Got that?" Lori said sternly to the duo who both gulped and nodded their heads.

"And what about the rest of us?" Lynn asked.

"Just act normal as usual. Knowing him he'll still want to take part in our usual activities with him. During that time try to act normal, ask questions about what he's been up to while he's been away. Maybe he'll give us bits and pieces about what's upsetting him. Then maybe we can try to piece it together. Understood?" Lori instructed everyone.

Everyone nodded and stated their approval. Luan however felt a little down since she felt that this meant that she couldn't pull pranks on him like she had planned to. Guess telling jokes to him would have have to suffice.

"I like it," Leni said from the corner.

"Alright. Meeting adjorned," Lori stated and everyone prepared to leave.

But before they could, Lori turned back to everyone and said, "Oh and one more thing. Lucy, absolutely NO SEANCES!"

"Sigh," was all that Lucy had to say about that.

* * *

 **I know it's a shorter chapter, but at least now the kids have some ideas on how to approach their Uncle's problem. The next chapter is mainly going to be about Reese and the twins, but I'll see if I can give some of the other girls a role in the chapter.**

 **Because of my clustered work schedule, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but I'll try to get as soon as I can.**

 **Luna's song reference in this chapter is called For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield. It's a very interesting song about a turbulent time in the US.**


	5. Time with the Twins

**Not much to say this time. Mostly tired from work related stuff and having a hard time sleeping. Doesn't stop me from writing this though so enjoy.**

 **Also for anyone who saw Room with a Fued, did you see the reference they made to Desert Storm? I'm surprised they actually did that even it was just a dessert show parody.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Loud House or any of it's properties.**

* * *

Somewhere in a rocky region, a supply truck rumbled down a lonesome road. Inside sat two men, both of them military personal. They were laughing as the younger man sat in the passenger seat while the older one was driving.

"So then I say to the guy, you keep that up and you'll need a brace for that leg," young Reese said as Bobby continued to drive.

They both laughed as Reese finished his little story.

"Wow. That man was an ass," Bobby said as he wiped a tear from his eye.

Reese laughs died down and said, "Why do you think I removed the chair from under him?"

They laughed a little more, but they both began to calm down from the exchange and focused back on the road ahead of them. The was another truck ahead of them that had several armed men inside in case things got dicey while they were out. Even simple deliveries like this needed an armed escort in case of enemy activity, but so far none had been reported.

"So how about you?" Bobby asked.

Reese could only respond with a, "Huh?"

Bobby shrugged and said, "Well we've been working together for a couple of weeks now, but we haven't really talked about ourselves."

"I thought the Army discouraged stuff like that. Makes you too attached to someone," Reese replied.

"What can I say? I'm curious about the guy I work with. Why must we stick to the men in the rich suits have to say?" Reese said with a chuckle.

Reese smiled and looked back at the badlands outside.

"Why don't you start though? Where you from? You got any family?" Reese asked.

"I have my parents, my brother and his wife and their family and they're all in Virginia," Bobby answered.

"You're an uncle?"

Bobby nodded and said, "Just last year. They had a boy and now they have a girl on the way."

Reese laughed and said, "You lucky dog."

"You have family?"

Reese let out a really loud laugh this time and said, "Oh yeah, big time. All in Michigan except for me."

Bobby raised an eyebrow and asked, "Care to elaborate?"

Reese laughed a little more and said, "Well there's my dad, my big sis and her husband and their family as well."

Bobby laughed with him and said, "You an uncle too?"

Reese nodded and said, "Oh yeah. They have nine daughters and a son."

This time is was Bobby's turn to start laughing loudly as he took Reese's words in. He thought it was incredible just to have a niece and and a nephew. Reese here however had hit the jackpot and Bobby loved the mere thought of it.

"You're kidding me. That can't be real," Booby said as he tried to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Swear on it. They just had another girl last year and they named her Lisa," Reese fired back.

"What about the rest of them?" Bobby asked.

Reese reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo. Bobby watched as Reese did so and constantly turned his attention back to the road as he did so. As Reese showed him the photo, Bobby was shocked by what he saw. The photo was taken in the family living room with Reese sitting on the couch with a grown man and woman sitting on either side of him with the woman clearly being pregnant. And surrounding them were a bunch of kids, mostly girls being wild. The one boy in the photo stood in front of them with an annoyed look on his face.

Bobby laughed and said, "Damn son! You weren't kidding."

Reese laughed and began pointing out and explaining each of the individual children whenever Bobby was able to spare a glance. Bobby was impressed by how different the kids were and how they still somehow managed to live together despite living in such a crowded household.

"Bet that makes going home such a treat?" Bobby stated.

"It really does," Reese answered and the two men shared a hearty laugh.

* * *

Reese muttered in his sleep as he lie in his bed in a white tank and sweat pants. The sun was already up and his alarm clock was already reading a quarter after seven in the morning. He snored and shifted in his bed as the basement door opened and two pairs of feet began descending the stairs.

Within seconds, both Lana and Lola were standing at the bottom of the stairs already clothed for the day and were wondering how they were going to handle a full apology to their uncle.

"So how are we going to do this?" Lola asked her twin.

Lana shrugged and said, "Well the first thing we HAVE to do is wake him up."

"But how? You know he sleeps like a rock. Just like Lynn does after winning three championships in a row... in a single day," Lola explained.

It's true, Reese was a heavy sleeper. But there were times where a sudden start was enough to jostle him from a sound sleep. Their mother explained how one time when she, Reese and Pop Pop had gone camping when Reese was just fifteen. He had slept in the back of their truck that night and wouldn't wake up the next morning. So Pop Pop had shaken the truck and screamed about a bear attacking the camp. That had been enough to wake him up and get him moving afterwards. The memory of this is what gave Lana an idea. An evil, awful idea.

"Okay here's an idea. We jump onto the bed and wake him up the hard way," Lana said with an evil grin.

"Ooh, I like that one," Lola said in agreement as she grinned evily herself.

They both high fived each other and Lana finished by saying, "I love it when we agree on stuff."

Lola nodded in agreement and they both quietly approached the bed. Reese muttered a little more in his sleep and they paused as he shifted in bed again. As he resumed his snores, they continued advancing on him. When they were just an arms reach away, they suddenly pounced on the bed and began jumping on it. In no time at all, Reese was startled awake and with a scream he fell out of the bed and landed on the floor.

As he fell off the bed, Lana and Lola stopped jumping on the bed and looked back down at Reese.

The twins cast looks of guilt with each other and Lola said, "We did it again didn't we?"

Reese lifted his head off the ground and said, "Is everyone going to just come down here and give me a rude awakening? How many times do I have to hit the floor?"

He turned his head to Lola and Lana, still standing on the bed. He put two and two together and turned his frown into a smile.

"You two just want to make me miserable don't you?" Reese asked jokingly.

Both Lola and Lana chuckled nervously with squinted eyes and nervous grins. They already knew Reese wasn't mad, but that didn't stop them from thinking they may have just screwed up again. But as Reese pulled himself back onto the bed and had them sit with him that things began to calm down a little with Lola on his left and Lana on the right.

"So what brings you two little troublemakers down here?" he asked.

The girls didn't quite know where to begin. They were there to give him a proper apology, but that was something they had rarely done in the past. They didn't know if they should start with the fight they had, the spilling of the soup, and now they had waking him up like this to add to the list.

Reese however could sense their tension and asked, "This is about the soup incident last night isn't it?"

The girls nodded and Reese chuckled and said, "Girls I told you last night, I'm fine. I just didn't want you kids to see me getting mad is all."

"We still feel bad about it Uncle Reese," Lana replied.

"I do too and I rarely feel bad about anything," Lola said as well.

That was true. Lola did plenty of bad things all the time, which included destroying her siblings property in acts of petty revenge. And possibly killing one of Lana's frogs purely because the frog disgusted her. Lana still had no proof of that though despite her many attempts at investigating it.

Reese wrapped his arms around the two of them and pulled them closer to him.

"Girls, it's fine. I got over it and I calmed down. If anything, I should be apologizing to you guys for scaring you so bad. I forget that after being away for so long that I really need to watch my attitude and emotions. Even if this house is practically a madhouse itself, it's still no excuse for me to snap like the way I did," Reese said as he held them close.

The girls smiled and gave him a hug. They were happy to know that he was alright and not too mad at them. But they figured that they should be a little more careful around him as they didn't want to see him snapping again like that.

"So is there anything else the two of you need?" he asked.

Lola looked up at him and saw the metal tags that he wore and couldn't help but stare at them. They were shiny and the glow was practically eminating in her eyes. She reached up and touched them.

"What are these?" she asked as she looked at them.

Reese looked down at what she was looking at and saw them.

"Oh these? These are just my Dog Tags," he answered.

"Like what Charles wears?" Lana asked.

Reese patted her head and said, "Something like that. Like the kind that Charles wears, they're used to identify who am I if something were to happen to me. Much like when a dog runs away, these tags are used to return their owners home."

"But why would that happen? Couldn't you just tell them who you are?" Lola asked not fully getting what Reese was actually talking about.

Lana groaned and said, "Lola that's not what he means. He means is if he were unable to tell them, ever again. Like with our old goldfish."

Lola's eyes went wide as the realization hit her. She shrank away and tried to scoot away from Reese a bit, but he just pulled her back over.

"Don't worry sweetie, you were curious. There's nothing wrong with that," he said patted her the top of her head.

"So were there any cool bugs out there in the desert?" Lana asked.

Lola gagged, stood and said, "Oh come on. That's all you care about? Some disgusting bu-"

"There actually were," Reese answered before Lola could finish.

Lola's demeener dropped as she frowned and sat herself back down on the bed. Lana's however had brightened.

Her eyes lit up and said, "Ooh tell me about them."

Reese could see the enthusiasm in her and said, "Oh there were all kids of bugs. Beetles and scorpions mainly. But then there were the camel spiders. Oh those things gave me chills. Still do."

"Ooh tell me more. What were they like?" Lana said more excitedly while Lola just sighed and crossed her arms.

"Oh they were big and ugly. You've seen how ugly regular spiders are right? These things were uglier and could deliver a terrible bit. Glad I was never bitten by them," Reese said dramatically.

"How big were they?" Lana asked out very quickly as her excitement grew.

Reese shrugged and said, "The biggest that I can recall was roughly the size of my arm."

He extended his arm out to show them and said, "A lot like this."

It was here that the basement door open and a familiar lisp was heard coming from the top of the stairs.

"I can hear your foolishness from the vent. The species in Solifugae don't get any longer than six inches. Camel spiders rarely get any bigger than a pack of cigarettes," came Lisa's voice in her usual matter-of-fact tone.

Reese sighed and hollered back, "Thank you for ruining the fun Lisa."

"Spreading false narratives is not fun. It makes the misunderstood creatures even more so," she responded and slammed the basement door shut.

Lana crossed her arms in anger and said, "Lisa. Why does she have to ruin everyone's fun?"

Lola crossed arms as well and added, "I know. Just like that snow day incident."

"Snow day incident? What happened?" Reese asked.

Lola and Lana had forgotten that Reese wasn't home at the time when Lisa had threatened to end their snow day fun due to her not understanding why they loved snow days. They went on in detail about them showing her why they found it fun and then about her discovering the fun of snowball fights. They also made sure to include the strings she pulled with NASA and how they all eventually agreed to end the snow days for a bit.

"She actually got NASA to do all that? No wonder our monthly budget got slashed last winter," Reese said while perplexed about the whole affair.

"Crazy isn't it?" asked Lana.

Reese let out a quick chuckle and said, "If she could do that much as a civilian, I shudder to think what she could do if she was military."

Lola and Lana quickly shushed him and Lana said, "Don't say that out loud."

"You may give her ideas if she hears you. She has ears everywhere," Lola added.

Reese cringed and looked around the room. Could Lisa hear them now or could she simply be watching. Reese knew the girl was smart with her PhD and jr. Nobel Prize. But the thought that she could be spying on the rest of the family made him wonder what other kind of sketchy stuff she could be doing. He figured it would be best to go upstairs now and worry about the rest later.

"Why don't you girls go on upstairs and I'll be up in a little bit? Tell them to save me some coffee up there," he instructed them and they ran off.

He stood up from the bed and let out a yawn as he walked over to the closest basement window to try to greet the day. The window looked out into the backyard and he could see Lynn was already out back, practicing her soccer drills. He couldn't expect anything less than that from her.

Reese stifled a laugh and said, "That girls is determined I'll tell you that. I think you'd like her, Bobby."

Reese paused as he mentioned his buddy's name. Why had he said that out loud? It didn't matter though as he shook his head to get it out of his mind. After changing clothes, Reese made his way upstairs. In the meantime, Leni, Lori, and Luna were already in the kitchen with cups of coffee. They were talking about their parts of the plan, when they could hear the sound of Reese beginning to come up the stairs.

"Alright, act natural. Don't let Uncle Reese know what's going," Lori instructed as Luna and Leni nodded in approval.

The basement door open and Reese stepped through. He saw the three eldest Loud girls standing about with Lori texting on her phone with Luna stirring her coffee and Leni putting some sugar in hers.

"Luna would you like a little sugar in your coffee?" Leni asked.

Luna let out a laugh and said, "A little? _Pour Some Sugar on Me_ dude."

Leni shrugged and poured a generous amount of sugar into Luna's cup who then drank it with incredible vigour. It wasn't until Reese was walking past them that they finally acknowledged him.

"Hey Uncle Reese," all three of them said at the same time.

Reese gave them a little wave and said, "Morning girls."

Reese could smell the coffee in Luna's mug and asked, "Is there any of that coffee left?"

Lori nodded and said, "Just brewed a fresh pot, but there aren't any clean cups."

"I could totally clean a few real quick," Leni offered, but Reese shook his head.

"That won't be necessary," he said and grabbed the coffee pot.

To the shock and amazement of the the eldest girls, they watched as their uncle lifted the pot of coffee to his lips and actually began to gulp it down despite it being really hot. It wasn't until he was half done with the pot that he then noticed the stares that the girls were giving him with their mouths hanging open.

He looked right back at them in confusion and said, "What?"

* * *

 **Not one of my better chapters, but I really wanted to make a scene with Reese and the twins. And knowing Lana, she'll want to know about the creatures that Reese has seen. And leave it to Lisa to ruin the moment.**

 **Luna's song reference this time is the song _Pour Some Sugar on Me_ by Def Leppard. I'm honestly surprised the show hasn't already made the reference. I mean come on, it practically writes itself.**

 **Next chapter Reese is going to go... shopping. Yeah he's going to be dragged shopping with a few of the girls. Let's see what kind of antics the group can get in to.**


	6. The Mall

**Began working on this one a little late. When work disrupts your life, it gets hard to be willing to write. But at any rate, here's the next chapter and I'm hoping it be a doozy. I decided to include some humor and drama in this chapter and hopefully I did a decent job with it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Loud House**

* * *

Some time around noon, there came a knock at the front door of the Loud House. Lincoln quickly ran downstairs to open it and was met by an african-american boy his own age. The boy wore glasses and at first glance could be viewed as the stereotypical nerd type. But if anyone got to know him, they'd know that he is nothing of the sort.

"Hey Lincoln. Ready to go to the arcade?" the boy asked.

Lincoln inhaled sharply, rubbed his arm and said, "Uh sorry Clyde. I tried to call you earlier, but you weren't there. I have to cancel our plans for the arcade."

Clyde's smile dropped and he asked, "What? What happened?"

Clyde was Lincoln's best friend and they always did stuff together. Be it either hanging out at the arcade, studying at school, or even getting involved in one of Lincoln's sneaky schemes. He was also the only one of Lincoln's friends who could actually tolerate all of Lincoln's sisters. Even all at once.

Lincoln looked around cautiously to make sure that none of his sisters were eavesdropping on their conversation. He couldn't see or hear any sign of them, so he stepped out onto the front porch with the hopes that they could have a little privacy. But knowing his sisters, they'd still have a way of listening in on him.

"Well Lori kind of has a date with Bobby tonight and she's kind of... dragging me along to double date with Ronnie Anne," Lincoln answered Clyde with a look of slight discomfort in his eyes.

Clyde listened to what Lincoln had to say and he began to frown which then turned into a snarl. Lincoln knew it was because of Clyde's obsessive crush on Lori and he always had resentment for Bobby because of it. Both Lincoln and Clyde knew it was a problem and Clyde knew it wasn't healthy for him. But even with all the therapy he received regularly, he could get over his obsession with Lori or his undying hatred for Bobby. All it really did was prevent him taking his anger out on Bobby and instead he kept in his imagination. Just seeing Lori wasn't the only thing that set Clyde's issues off. Even the mere mention of her name was enough to have Clyde have a little episode.

Clyde growled and said, "Bobby. Someday I will get you and Lori will be mine."

Lincoln grabbed Clyde's shoulders and said, "Wow! Calm down there big guy. Remember what Dr. Lopez told you. Think about something else. Think about your dads garden or something."

Clyde did just that and, even though it took a moment, his seething anger began to die down.

As it did, he took a few deep breaths and said, "I'm good. Sorry Lincoln, but you know how I am when it comes to L-l-l-l"

As Clyde stammered, Lincoln rolled his eyes, sighed and gave Clyde a light smack across the face.

Clyde rubbed his face and said, "Thanks. So what about you and Ronnie Anne? Why are you guys being dragged along?"

"You remember my Uncle Reese right?" Lincoln asked.

Clyde's smile returned as he nodded and said, "Of course I remember. You and him still have that legendary tag team score at the arcade and he even taught me how to be better at skeeball."

"Lori invited him to go with them during their date tonight so that he could meet Bobby and get to him. And then Bobby got the idea of the double which Ronnie Anne liked and Lori thought would be a good way to introduced Reese to her as well. So she's making me go with them," Lincoln answered.

Ronnie Anne was Bobby's little sister. Like Lincoln and many of his sisters, the two of them were extremely close and Bobby was protective of her. Even though they weren't officially a couple, Ronnie Anne and Lincoln did like each other a lot and constantly hung out with each other. Lincoln liked her, even if at times she felt and acted like the boy in their relationship.

"And he, Lori, Leni, Luan, Lola, and my mom went off to the mall and I have to be home when they return. Sorry Clyde, I was looking forward to hanging out," Lincoln said apologetically.

Clyde shook his head while smiling and said, "No need to need to apologize my man. You and your uncle still plan to hang at the arcade some time right?"

Lincoln nodded and said, "So the three of us can hang out together then."

Lincoln thought about it for a second and said, "I think that might be a good idea."

The two fist bumped each other and Clyde, "Sounds like a plan."

The two exchanged goodbyes and Licoln walked back into the house. But to his shock, but not at all surprise, the remaining sisters were already there with wide grins on their faces.

"Did we hear that you have a date with Ronnie Anne tonight?" Lynn asked.

Lincoln gulped before turning to the viewers.

"This is why you shouldn't expect a minute of privacy in this house," he said to the viewing audience.

* * *

In the meantime, Rita, Reese, and some of the girls were on the highway driving towards the Royal Woods Mall. Reese and Rita were sitting in the front with the girls behind them. The girls were busy chatting about what they planned to get at the mall. Rita was driving while Reese just stared out the window, looking bored. They had dragged him along against his will and he had wanted to make other plans that day.

"So how did I get roped into going shopping with you guys?" Reese asked.

Rita sighed a little and aid, "Because you need new clothes. Your civilian clothes haven't arrived at the house yet and I'm not going to let you run around in those same pants and shirt day after day. Besides it'll do you some good to get out of the house."

Reese let out a laugh and said, "What am I your brother or your son?"

The girls in the back ceased their chatter and turned their attention to the two adults in front of them.

"Reese, don't start. I know you don't like clothes shopping, but this is important. Especially for the kids," Rita reminded him.

Reese knew that and understood. He wanted to look his best and make a good first impression with Lori's boyfriend and Lincoln's love interest. But at the same time it made him a little uncomfortable. He wasn't very good at socialization, never had been. The very idea of meeting important people in the lives of his niece and nephew made him nervous and filled him with dread. Last thing he wanted to do was embaress himself or them. Guess it was just another good reason he bite the bullet and do as Rita says.

Reese let out an exhasperated sigh and said, "Yes mother."

Rita shook her head in annoyance and focused her attention back to the road. But another thought entered her head that she couldn't shake. She knew Reese wouldn't like and she knew what his answer would be once she asked it, but the thought wouldn't leave so she decided the best course of action would just be to ask.

"Have you thought about going to see dad?" she asked.

This time Reese let out a loud sarcastic laugh. This was just as Rita had expected. Reese and her father had not been on good terms for quite some time. When Reese had announced to their father that he was planning to join the military, Pop Pop had not taken it well. Reese couldn't understand why as Pop Pop had been an Army man as well. But then again, Pop Pop had regularly been a "Do as I say and as I do" kind of guy when it came to his family. He and Reese had barely spoken in the eight years of his service. Rita was hoping that now that Reese was no longer in the Army, they'd be willing to patch things up.

"That's the kind of response I'd expect from you," Rita exclaimed.

"What?" came Reese's reply.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Well care to elaborate Rita?"

Luan leaned forward and was about to ask them if everything was okay. But Lori pulled her back and shook her head, telling her to not get involved. Just like whenever the girls had arguments, they figured it would be best if their mother and uncle worked it out for themselves.

Rita groaned and said, "Well you and him barely talk to each other. Now that you don't have to go back it'd be a good time for you and him to try to work things out."

"I know that Rita. But I just don't think I'm ready yet," Reese responded.

Rita glared in his direction and said, "You can't put it off forever. The longer you wait, the harder it will be."

Reese rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever. I'm done talking about this."

Rita opened her mouth to respond, but Reese beat her to it.

"End of discussion," Reese said bitterly and went back to looking out the window.

Rita shook her head and went back to focusing on the road.

"Reese you're twenty-six years old and spent eight years in the military. Yet you still act like your seven years old," Rita finished.

"Whatever," was Reese's only response.

Rita didn't say anything after that. The girls sat back in their seats as they had listened to the whole exchange. They had never seen this side of their uncle before and the memory of his moment at dinner gave them a sense of forboding.

Rita looked into the rearview mirror and said, "Sorry you girls had to hear all of that."

Rita's words did little to comfort them. All this did was give them more reason to try to figure out what was truly bothering Reese. But given the exchange about their grandfather, they now had an idea on where to start. They'd tell the rest of their siblings later.

* * *

Later on at the mall, the kids split up with Lori and Leni dragging Reese off to a nearby clothing store with Rita going to sign Lola up for another pagent and Luan going to a joke shop to get some new props for her comedy act. Reese stood idly by as Leni and Lori began going through shirts and holding them up to him to see how they'd look on him.

"You girls know that I hate this right?" Reese rhetorically asked.

The two laughed and Lori added, "Oh come on you big baby. It's only for one day."

Reese groaned and said, "Last time I had to go through this for your mother's wedding."

"Oh come on, how old were you then? Eight? Nine?" Lori asked.

Reese blushed and said, "Seven. I was a stubborn child back then."

"You mean you were little once?" Leni asked looking shocked.

Reese gave her a look, but Leni didn't notice as she tried another shirt on him. Lori groaned and shook her head at Leni's usual airheadedness. As Leni went off to another nearby rack, Reese had to turn to Lori.

"I love the girl as much as the rest of you. But how do you handle her on a regular basis?" Reese asked.

"It takes a lot of patience, but sometimes that's not even enough. Even I have my limits with her. Then again she is good at picking locks and making clothes, so she does have some activity going on up there," Lori answered.

Reese had to admit, that was some pretty admirable skills to know. Then again he'd have to instruct her to be very cautious with her lock picking skills. While those skills could be useful, there was also the possibility that they could be misinterpeted for something criminal.

"I hope she's careful with that," Reese responded.

A moment later, Leni returned with some clothes that were clearly for her as they were too small for him. But she seemed enthused to have found them, something Reese figured for a girl so obsessed with fashion.

"Hey guys. Look at these cute clothes I found," Leni said and held them up.

Lori was about to comment on them when she noticed a couple of employees gathering a maniquenn that was suspiciously missing the clothes that were supposed to be on it.

"Um Leni, where did you get those?" Lori asked.

Leni pointed back at the group of employees and said, "Oh it was on those statue things. You know, like the ones I practice my sewing on."

One of the employees turned in their direction, spotted the clothes Leni was holding and yelled out, "Hey you!"

Lori grabbed Leni's wrist and said, "Okay everyone it's time to drop the clothes and run."

"Agreed," Reese responded.

"But what about my-," Leni started, but was cut off as Lori started dragging her away and made her drop the clothes she had been holding.

The employee arrived at the spot and looked at the pile of clothes that had been left behind by the trio.

He went red in the face and said, "Rotten kids."

* * *

After that little debacle, the girls and Reese had gone off to another store and were able to purchase the clothes that they had been trying to find for their uncle. Afterwards, they had parted and agreed to meet up at the food court with the rest of the family later. Reese couldn't help but glance around him in the large shopping center. Just looking at all the people around him who were shopping, some enjoying themselves by hanging out with friends, families spending the day together, or simply people just trying to get out of the house.

Reese smiled at the familiar surroundings and couldn't help but think back to his experiences in the Army. Sites like this were not too common for him as he had not been allowed to go into most population centers, not even when he had to make deliveries. He always had to drive off-road or on back-roads and only drove into the cities if he had to. Oh how he had missed sights like this over the years.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice someone walking right in front of him. He felt the bump and heard them fall over. He broke from his stupor and looked down to see what had happened. As he looked, he realized that he had accidently knocked over Luan.

"Oh my goodness. Luan are you okay. I'm sorry," he said as he began to help her up and helped her pick up some of her new comedy props.

Luan chuckled and said, "Oh it's okay. I was hoping to drop in anyway. Get it?"

Luan laughed at her joke and Reese had to admit that it was at least a little funny. He chuckled a little at her joke and patted her on the back.

"Still going with your comedy routine huh kiddo?" he asked.

She nodded and said, "You know it. But don't worry, I'll refrain from the pranks on you for right now. I know you're not feeling the best right now."

Reese gave a faux shocked look and said, "Nonsense. I like your pranks. They help take the edge off when I come home. Heck you should see what me and the other guys there do when we're not in the middle of stressful situations."

Luan looked perplexed at what Reese told her.

"Really? You pull pranks?" she asked.

Reese rubbed the beard stubble on his chin and said, "Well now that you mention it."

* * *

We see Reese and a couple of other guys quietly sneaking up on one of their fellow men while he slept. Very quietly, Reese took a can of shaving cream and sprayed a little onto the guy's hand. He pulled back away while another one of the guys took a feather and lightly brushed it against their victims nose. The guy murmured and continued snoring. They brushed his nose again and this time the guy slapped his own face.

I'm sure you can guess where it went from here.

* * *

Luan laughed as Reese told her the story.

"Oh man. Simple, but still a classic gag," Luan laughed and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Want to know a unique one that was pulled on me? Might give you some new material," he asked.

Luan's eyes brightened and she nodded her head eagerly.

* * *

Reese was standing in the communal shower of the base he was working at. As he rinsed the shampoo out of his head, one of the guys came up behind him and gently squeezed a small amount onto his head. Reese took no notice and continued washing the shampoo out. As he did, the guys squeezed a little more out and Reese started rinsing that out too.

Over and over again they did this and Reese began to realize that something was up.

"Okay where did they get this shampoo?" he asked himself.

He washed it out again and the guys behind him made their move again.

"Ugh it doesn't wash out," he said and then he heard the snickering behind him.

He turned around and saw a few of the guys there. As he looked at them, their snickers became full blown laughter.

* * *

Luan laughed a little harder and said, "Oh I've never heard that before. Don't think I'd have a safe place to do it though. The other's would kill me if I was in the bathroom while they showered."

Reese shrugged and said, "Just a thought."

They both laughed together as Reese shard a few more stories of the various pranks he and the guys pulled on together. They found a bench and sat together for a while as Luan talked about her performing business and some of the gags she pulls with them. The kids loved it and the parents did too. Reese listened intently until finally his watch went off.

"It's two o'clock kiddo. We got to meet everyone at the food court," he said as he rose from the bench.

Luan jumped up with him and they began making their way there. Reese did take a moment to mess up Luan's hair.

"Gotcha," Reese joked and smirked.

Luan just laughed with him.

* * *

 **Yeah I will admit that this chapter as well as the last one are simply filler. The reason is because I want Reese to spend time with his family and I do try to get him to have a connection with the rest of them before things start to get bad.**

 **Note: Spoiler from the show down below, do not read past this if you have not watched The Loudest Mission yet.**

 **I also want to note that I began writing this before the new special with Ronnie Anne and Bobby moving away, so that's why they still live in Royal Woods.**


End file.
